Emirates and SriLankan Airlines have signed a reciprocal interline agreement to boost connectivity for passengers of both airlines. The partnership will enable access to new points on each other’s networks via Colombo and Dubai, utilising a single ticket and enjoying the convenience of baggage transfers. Read: Walton brings new models of single door all-rounder fridge The interline partnership unlocks 15 regional destinations operated by SriLankan Airlines via Colombo, for Emirates’ passengers to choose from. The interline network includes   two new Indian destinations- Madurai and Tiruchirapally, in addition to  Gan Island in the Maldives. Far East and South Asian destinations also include Cochin, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Malé, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Seoul and Tokyo, according to a press release. SriLankan Airlines’ passengers are also set to benefit from access to Emirates’ global network and connect to 15 cities across the Middle East, Africa, Russia and the US operated by Emirates beyond Dubai. SriLankan’s customers will enjoy a premium travel experience and partnership benefits while flying on Emirates to Bahrain, Amman, Dammam, Medina, Cairo, Muscat, Nairobi, Moscow, Tel Aviv, and a host of US cities including New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Franciso, Chicago, Boston and Houston. Read: Speakers at a seminar focus on human dignity for sustainable development Travel itineraries can be booked immediately on emirates.com, srilankan.com and preferred online and offline travel agencies.  Emirates now serves Dhaka with 21 weekly flights and via Dubai offers convenient connections to nearly 140 destination across six continents.  

Country's super electronics brand 'Walton' has brought new models of single door all-rounder refrigerator in the domestic market, which are suitable for use in small families, bachelors, pharmacies, hospitals, hotels, resorts, restaurants and shops. The local multinational electronics giant is producing lucrative designed and models of single door refrigerator with different capacities, ranging from 50 to 225 liters, at state-of-the art fridge manufacturing plant at Walton headquarters in Gazipur’s Chandra, said a press release. The single-door model refrigerator's has more usable space than other models. This fridge has 90 percent normal refrigeration section and 10 percent freezer section. In addition, these models of refrigerators are 30 percent more energy saving than a regular fridge of the same size. Read: Walton Plaza fulfills Jonayed's dream of flying in the sky Tofail Ahmed, chief business officer of Walton Refrigerator, said Walton developed single door model of refrigerator for the multipurpose users. A small family of 1 to 4 people can use the single door fridge at an affordable cost. In addition, this model of refrigerator has great demand in pharmacies for storing medicines. He noted that the market share of single door refrigerators in South Asian countries is about 75 percent. Walton has already exported a large amount of single door refrigerators to the Asian countries. Walton's highest exported refrigerator model is single door. He expected that Walton single door refrigerator will become a hot cake for the domestic buyers. Read: Walton starts export trades with India in Rupee Walton Refrigerator Research and Innovation Center's Head Azmal Ferdous said, the single door refrigerators are specially designed. 'Silver Clean++' technology is being used in this model. This technology automatically prevents harmful bacteria into the refrigerated food. And, world-wide recognized fully environment-friendly R600a refrigerant and optimized cooling circuit are used in this model of refrigerator, which are resulted in saving huge energy. The body of the fridge has an onion tray on the stand. Onions and potatoes can be easily stored in it. Walton's single door refrigerator also acquired the most accepted UL certificate of the United States. The UL testing and certification ensure that an electrical product satisfies the safety requirement to enter the US and Canadian markets. At present, Walton is manufacturing and marketing more than 10 models of single door refrigerators with 4 plus different designs in the domestic market. Prices of these fridges are set between Tk14,990 and Tk30,000. Customers are getting one year replacement facility with a 12-year guarantee on compressor.

Speakers at a seminar emphasized human dignity and social justice, irrespective of religion and color, are essential for the sustainable development of a country. The speaker said this in a seminar on ‘Human Dignity and Sustainable Development: Road to Islam’ organized by the Department of Islamic Studies, Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology, Dhaka. Dr. Md. Iqbal Hossain, Professor Department of Da’wah and Islamic Studies, Islamic University, Kushtia presented a paper on the topic. Dr. Md. Shah-E-Alam, vice-chancellor of the university, was present as the chief guest. Professor Mostafizul Haque, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology, was present as the special guest and Prof. Dr. M. Abdul Halim Shaikh, Dean of the Faculty of Management, were present as the special guests. Mohammad Ishaque, associate professor and head of the department of Islamic Studies, presided over the seminar. A number of faculties and students of the university participated in the seminar.  

Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Prime Minister Salman F Rahman on Saturday said the US visa policy for Bangladesh will not disrupt the trade relation between the two countries. He told reporters this after attending the ICURP Conference held in a city hotel on Saturday. Salman said that the USA is the most prominent market for Bangladesh's RMG industry, where Bangladeshi products enter at a competitive tax of 15.5 percent. Bangladesh is not getting any extra privileges in that market, he said. Read: Visa restrictions: US didn’t issue any statement regarding anyone in particular, says Home Minister In reply to a query, he clarified that unlike other regions such as Europe, the United States does not grant any special trade facility like GSP to Bangladesh. Salman welcomed the US visa policy in addressing potential obstructions to the electoral process while asserting that the policy aims to target not only obstacles but also instances of violence in election time. Read more:  'Nothing to lose' from visa restrictions: Shahriar Alam

Sri Lanka has paid off the entirety of USD $200 million loan from Bangladesh, taken through a currency exchange agreement two years ago to survive the severe dollar shortage. In the last installment, Sri Lanka paid about $50 million and $4.5 million in interest on the loan on Thursday night, a senior official of Bangladesh Bank confirmed to UNB today. Sri Lanka took this loan for a period of one year in May 2021. However, the country failed to repay the loan due to a worsening domestic economic crisis and the Sri Lankan government declared itself bankrupt. That's why the country took extension to repay the debt several times. Read: Sri Lanka repays $100million in second installment of loan taken from Bangladesh This year, Sri Lanka's economy started to turn around and the country was able to repay the debt. According to Bangladesh Bank, Sri Lanka initially repaid $50 million on August 20. Then on August 31, it returned $100 million. Finally, they returned the remaining $50 million on Thursday night. Sri Lanka has paid off the loan taken from Bangladesh in three installments. Read more: $200 million loan: Sri Lanka repaid $50 million to Bangladesh, says central bank

Dubai-based Emirates airline has been announced as Airline of the Year while US-Bangla Airlines as the best domestic airline in the ShareTrip-Monitor Airline of the Year 2023 awards. Qatar Airways and IndiGo came out as Cargo Airline of the Year and Best Budget Airline, respectively. Md. Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism handed over the trophies among the winning airlines in different categories of services at a ceremony held at the InterContinental Dhaka on Wednesday (September 20, 2023). Vistara was adjudged as the Best Regional Airline. Winners were selected based on the frequent flyers’ opinion poll, conducted in July and August of the current year. Over 3,300 frequent flyers cast their votes online.  Besides, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) received a Jury’s special citation award for their active support and generous contribution towards development of the aviation sector in Bangladesh. Air Vice Marshal M. Mafidur Rahman, Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh; Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, Chairman, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and also the Chairman of the Jury; Kazi Wahidul Alam, Editor, The Bangladesh Monitor; Sadia Haque, Co-founder and CEO, ShareTrip;  Ziaul Karim, Head of Communications and External Affairs, Eastern Bank PLC; Ashwani Nayar, General Manager, InterContinental Dhaka; Mohammad Saiful Hoque, CEO, Sabre Bangladesh also spoke on the occasion. Airlines operating in Bangladesh were awarded in 16 different categories of services. Airlines received Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards considering the number of votes they received. Emirates clinched the highest number of five gold awards in different categories including Best Business Class, Best Inflight Entertainment, Best Loyalty Program, Best Long-haul Airline, and Airline of the Year. National carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines won Gold Awards in two different categories including Best Economy Class and Best Inflight Meal in Economy Class. Qatar Airways besides winning Cargo Airline of the Year also won Gold Award in Best Inflight Meal in Business Class category. Vistara won Gold Award in Best Regional Airline category and IndiGo won Gold in Best Budget Airline category. US-Bangla Airlines besides winning Gold Award in Domestic Airline of the Year category also won Gold Awards in Most Customer Friendly Airline (domestic) category. NovoAir won Gold in Best On-time Performance (domestic) category while Air Astra won the Gold Award in Best Inflight Service (domestic) category. City Bank Amex Lounge was adjudged as the best airport lounge in Bangladesh, SkyLounge of Eastern Bank PLC received the Silver and Balakla Lounge by InterContinental Dhaka received Bronze Award. The 11-member jury committee comprising distinguished personalities from various sectors scrutinized the opinion poll and selected the winners.  

The 40th meeting of the Task Committee of Islamic Banks Consultative Forum (IBCF) was held at the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) office recently. Syed Wasek Ali, chairman of the task committee of IBCF and the managing director and CEO of First Security Islami Bank, presided over the meeting, said a press release. Read: Daraz empowers aspiring female cricket athletes from South Asia at Asian games Hangzhou Different issues related to Islamic Banking were discussed in the meeting. Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Advisor of IBCF and Chairman of Standard Bank Ltd., Vice Chairman of IBCF AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul, Vice Chairman of Social Islami Bank Ltd. Saidur Rahman, Chairman of the Audit Committee of Jamuna Bank Ltd. Abdur Rahman Sarkar, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Sharia Board, Fariduddin Ahmed, and Shah Mohammad Wali Ullah, Chairman of Shariah Supervisory Committee of NRB and NRBC Bank, attended the meeting, added the release. Read: Nagad wins Visa Excellence award-2023

Daraz, the Official E-commerce Platform of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou, is set to bring together a group of aspiring female cricket athletes from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal to witness the world-class sporting event. Taking place from September 23 to October 8, 2023, the Asian Games Hangzhou is renowned as the world's second-largest multi-sport event, following only the Olympics. Through this endeavor, Daraz aims to empower the next generation of South Asian female athletes by providing them with the unique opportunity to watch Women's cricket played at the highest international level, according to a press release. This experience will allow these athletes to learn from the best in the world, enhancing their skills and gaining invaluable insights. For many of these athletes, this journey represents their first solo venture abroad, offering them newfound perspectives, independence, and life skills that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact. Nuzhat Sabah Firdaus, a 23-year-old local academy cricket player from Bangladesh, expressed her gratitude and excitement about this unique opportunity, stating, “I am deeply honoured to have been selected as part of this initiative by Daraz. It is an immense privilege to witness Cricket being played on such a grand international stage, and I believe that this opportunity will allow me to grow in more ways than one. Cricket has been my passion since the tender age of 6, and I can hardly contain my excitement as I look forward to participating and experiencing this incredible journey.” Cheryl Ang, Daraz regional chief marketing officer, shared her perspective on the initiative: Daraz has always remained steadfast in its mission to uplift communities, and this initiative holds a special place in my heart. It underscores our enduring commitment to empowering underserved communities - and female athletes are one of them. We believe that through initiatives like these, we can bring about positive change, one step at a time.”

Nagad, a popular mobile financial service provider in Bangladesh, has been conferred with prestigious Visa Excellence Awards 2023 for its outstanding contribution to boost digital payments in the country. Visa, a leading digital payment entity, recently felicitated its partner Nagad in the category, “Excellence in CyberSource – Payouts” for its “Credit Card Bill Payment” and “Transfer Money to Visa Debit Card” products at the “Visa Leadership Conclave-2023” under the theme of “Towards a Cashless, Smart Bangladesh” held at Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka, said a press release issued on Thursday. Read: Nagad partners with TerraPay for faster remittance inflows Planning Minister MA Mannan, graced the occasion as the chief guest, while Md Sharafat Ullah Khan, director of Payment Systems Department at Bangladesh Bank, was the guest of honour at the programme.  Soumya Basu, country manager at Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, Visa, also attended the event along with the entire Visa team and other issuers and acquirers of Bangladesh. Read: Tamim Iqbal signs lifetime contract with Nagad On Behalf of Nagad, its Executive Director Mohammad Aminul Haque, Chief Commercial Officer Md Shihab Uddin Chowdhury, and Head of Product Development Golam Jamil Ahmed received the award. Nagad’s Chief Commercial Officer Shihab Uddin Chowdhury said, “It is an honour for us to have been recognised by our partner, VISA. Such a recognition will inspire us to bring in more products and services tailored to our customers’ changing needs, thus expediting our country’s digital transformation.” At the annual conclave, Visa honoured its partners – banks, fintech companies, merchants and other members of the ecosystem. The awards were presented for excellence in various categories, including issuance and acquiring, cross-border payments, product innovation, fintech partnerships, CyberSource and Value-Added Services. Read: Over 200 Nagad distributors to be sent to KSA for performing Umrah Among the award winners, prominent names are – Islami Bank Bangladesh, Standard Chartered Bank, Eastern Bank, BRAC Bank, The City Bank, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), United Commercial Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, The Premier Bank, Dhaka Bank, and Dutch Bangla Bank.

Finding a new job is a part of career growth for both young and experienced professionals. However, nowadays, every vacancy attracts a multitude of applicants. Sometimes educational qualifications, skills and experiences are not enough to convince the employers. So how can a candidate showcase his or her eligibility for the job? Mastering the art of self-marketing can be the key  to improving their career. Let’s find out how self-marketing can help job seekers to get hired. What is Self-marketing? Why is it Important for Career Growth Self-marketing is the practice of promoting one’s skills, experience, and personal brand to potential employers. It's about showcasing what makes a job seeker unique and prove why he or she is the best fit for a particular job.  In today's competitive job market, effective self-marketing is vital. It helps a job candidate stand out amid a sea of candidates, emphasizing his or her strengths and achievements. Beyond impressing employers, self-marketing boosts the job seeker’s confidence. It makes a difference in interviews and negotiations. Read more: 10 Ways You Can Improve Your English Pronunciation Crafting a strong personal brand aligns with an individual’s career goals. It simplifies the attraction of suitable opportunities and valuable connections through networking. In a fast-paced job market, effective self-marketing can be a critical asset for career success, as it showcases both the skills and adaptability of young professionals who are looking for suitable employment scopes . 10 Tips for Marketing Yourself as a Job Candidate Craft an Outstanding Resume Crafting an outstanding resume is the cornerstone of successful self-marketing. It involves creating a well-structured document that highlights one’s qualifications, experience, and achievements concisely.  Tailoring your resume to the specific job you are applying for is important. Try to use clear language, quantify your accomplishments with numbers where possible, and ensure it's error-free. Your resume is your first impression on potential employers, so it must captivate their attention and make them eager to learn more about you. Read more: Recession-Proof Your Career With Tech Skills Nowadays, video resumes are both popular and trendy. Therefore, you can submit video resumes besides the traditional resumes while applying for jobs. Develop an Elevator Pitch Developing an elevator pitch is about crafting a brief, compelling introduction of yourself and your skills, like a verbal business card. It should be concise, engaging, and memorable, typically lasting about 30 seconds – the time it takes for an elevator ride.  Your elevator pitch should encapsulate your key qualifications, experience, and what sets you apart from others in your field. It's a powerful tool for networking events, job interviews, or any situation where you need to make a quick and impactful impression. Read more: Making a Perfect Video Resume: Tips and Tricks Similar strategies are applicable while you prepare a video resume for any job application process. Know the Potential Employer Understanding your potential employer is crucial when marketing yourself as a job candidate. Research the company thoroughly to gain insights into its culture, values, and goals. This knowledge allows you to tailor your application and interview responses to align with what the company is seeking.